With the rapid development of cutting-edge science and technology, the requirements for material performance are increasing. In many fields, the performance of traditional single-phase materials cannot meet actual needs, which has prompted people to study and prepare composite materials consisting of multiple phases to improve the performance thereof [Xiya ZHOU, “COMPOSITE MATERIAL,” Chemical Industry Press, Beijing].
However, to realize a “1+1>2” synergistic effect of a composite material, the interface thereof is crucial. In order to obtain excellent interface bonding, some methods have been widely used, such as, surface treatment of the reinforcement (such as chemical corrosion, ray irradiation, and addition of silane coupling agent, etc.), adding specific elements to the matrix, and coating on the surface of the reinforcement [Su F, Zhang Z, Wang K, Jiang W, Liu W. “Tribological and mechanical properties of the composites made of carbon fabrics modified with various methods.” Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing. 2005; 36(12):1601-7.].
There are physical methods and chemical methods for preparation of nanocomposites. Physical methods mainly include the mechanical grinding composite method, dry impact method, high energy ball milling method, blending method, heterogeneous condensation method, high temperature evaporation method, etc. The nanocomposites prepared by these methods have some advantages, such a, clean surfaces, no impurities, particle controllability, and high activity, but currently the yield is relatively low and the cost is high. Chemical methods mainly include the sol-gel method, hydrothermal method, microemulsion method, chemical vapor deposition method, solvent evaporation method, etc. Although these methods have a high yield, the prepared composite material contains certain impurities.
In most of the above methods, a third-party material is heated, and then transfers heat to reactants, thus achieving synthesis of a material at a certain temperature. When preparing a composite material by these methods, the matrix material and the reactants are simultaneously heated by the third-party material, the formation of the interface is completely random, without being guided, and the distribution of the reactants on the matrix material is not uniform and the interface bonding is poor. In order to achieve site-specific and controllable nucleation growth on the matrix and to form a better interface, it is necessary to treat the matrix material in advance (to make it charged or have some functional groups) to selectively provide it with active sites, so as to control the composite structure. It is apparent that this process is complex, and difficult to apply to industrial production.
Furthermore, when a template method is employed to synthesize a material with a certain structure, there are some requirements for the template, that is, the template itself should have an active site, or an active site can be introduced thereto through a certain treatment, so as to achieve a growth of the reactants in the matrix material. This makes some templates with a special structure unusable [CHEN Zhangxu, ZHENG Bingyun, L I Xianxue, F U Minglian, X I E Shuguang, DENG Chao, H U Yanhua, “Progress in The Preparation of Nanomaterials Employing Template Method” [J]. “Chemical Industry and Engineering Progress,” 2010, (No. 1)].